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Saga

A couple of days ago, I saw an interview conducted by some American host (not a bimbo, and no amateur) of a current affairs program with an environmentalist on the ABC 24 hour channel.

As you would expect, they rabbited on and on about the supposed "cover up" by the Japanese officials, how incompetent they were and how bad that was, how they lacked transparency, and how anathema the whole episode was to the nuclear industry.

They mentioned the exclusion zones, if they were satisfactory, how put-out the Japanese people were by these exclusion zones and how Japanese officials had resolved to conserve power (something foreign to the Japanese people, who consume electricity like Germans consume beer).

Anyway, 15 minutes into the interview, the topic of radiation and how that translated into possible deaths (through higher rates of cancer) came up.

Self-obliged, I suspect, to tell the truth - and in the complete absence of any prompting by the interviewer, whose sole focus was to ram down viewer's throats the dangers of the effects of radiation - the conflicted gentleman finally came clean.

This he did by articulating how with respect to 10,000 deceased and 15,000 unaccounted for (due entirely to the natural disaster), the effects of radiation on the Japanese people in the future was "MANY MAGNITUDES LOWER THAN THE ACTUAL DEATH TOLL."

Not that the interviewer was the slightest bit interested in this information. It didn't really suit her agenda. Nor did it suit his, but I'll give him credit for raising what was in effect a "side" issue.

And this is why stocks like PEN are being forced to fight the good fight on more than one front. Selfish agendas, misguided opinions, dissemination of propaganda supporting alternative industries are all factors which have railed against us.

But my fellow Penners, fear not. Time heals all and we shall overcome this and become the company we can all be proud of.